Road to Somewhere
by aussiebabe290
Summary: Their lives were just beginning. They were high school graduates, with one summer together before college started. Mission: to live that summer to the fullest, together and not apart. But to do that, they had to find the girl they'd lost along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Jesse Swanson, with a yawn, sleepily rolled over, finding himself facing the calendar counting down to graduation and a framed photo of his childhood best friend and himself, at the age of six. He did it every morning. It was a part of his routine.

He'd had the same routine for the entirety of high school. But that routine was coming to an end- with only ten days left, as the calendar reminded him. Then there would just be summer, and then college. Where he'd start a completely new routine.

A routine that wouldn't involve his childhood best friend, with the exception of their photograph.

The two of them looked so happy, grinning with their arms draped around each other and laughing at a joke that he had long since forgotten. They were not six years old anymore, and they were not the kids with their arms around each other.

Beca Mitchell and Jesse Swanson had drifted apart, and Jesse could pinpoint the moment that they had.

They were born only a month apart, and had grown up side by side, as neighbours. Both only children, they were raised together, their parents forming the best of friendships. Perhaps they had been forced into friendship, but either way the two of them had loved it. They'd spend every waking moment of the day together, fighting dragons and defending Beca's treehouse (Beca had the treehouse, Jesse had the pool) from danger. They'd spent their summers lounging beside the Swanson pool, splashing each other and playing endless games of Marco polo. Despite the huge differences between them (the biggest being Beca's hatred for movies- she had carried on like she was being tortured when Jesse suggested they sit down with a video), they were the best of friends.

Things had turned sour when they turned eight. Not between the two of them, but between Beca's parents. Beca's parents fought and fought and fought (Beca spending more time than usual with the Swansons), and by the time they were nine, were in the midst of divorce.

The night that William Mitchell left, it was raining. It wasn't just raining, it was torrential. But despite that, nine year old Beca had climbed out of her second storey bedroom window (directly opposite Jesse's, the two would talk to each other across the fence when their parents thought they were in bed), climbed over the fence and scaled the side of Jesse's house before crawling into his window. She was saturated and her cheeks were damp with tears, and she had huddled under Jesse's blankets, sopping wet, crying to her best friend.

but when her mother had knocked loudly on the door an hour later and Beca had been discovered (having just drifted off to sleep, curled into a ball beside him), she had told him not to keep his window open any more. And from that day on, both of them kept their windows shut.

That was the day that he knew he'd lost his childhood best friend.

It wasn't that they weren't friends. They were. They still had the same group of friends they'd had since elementary school, and still ate lunch with each other. They celebrated every Thanksgiving together, because Beca's mother Lindsey was still best friends with his parents. And they spoke over the fence.

He'd been there for the unveiling of her sweet sixteenth present (a Prius she'd named Charlie), and she had laughed so hard that she'd doubled over in pain on his sixteenth birthday and his parents had unveiled a Ford minivan (Beca, still chuckling, had declared that it looked like a Carla. And from that day forth, they'd referred to it as Carla).

(they were so sure that he'd gotten the car of his dreams. Jesse hadn't been disappointed, because at least he had a car, but he thought he was getting something smaller. And less van-like.)

They were still friends- they'd partnered up for every English lesson throughout high school. They just weren't best friends. They didn't have the same friendship that they had when they were eight.

nothing had been the same since that rainy night when they were nine. Jesse was sure that when William Mitchell left, he took a piece of his best friend with him. she'd never been the same since, and he doubted she ever would be.

But, in a way, there was a part of her that was the little girl that he had fought dragons with, hiding out in the Mitchell tree house before diving straight into the Swanson pool. She didn't show it often, but when he did, Jesse felt like nothing had changed.

"Jesse!" his mother's voice rang up the stairs. "Jesse, sweetheart, you're going to be late for school!"

"Coming", he groaned, taking one more glance at that photo, before grabbing a pair of jeans. Nothing good ever came of dwelling on the past, but it had never ever stopped him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey weirdo", Jesse called over the side fence, as he unlocked his minivan, spying Beca coming out of her house.

"Hey Jess". She gave him a small smile, before unlocking Charlie the Prius.

Some days (most days) he wondered why they didn't carpool, like they did when they were younger. For their entire kindergarten year, Beca would come over for breakfast before Jesse's mother would take them to school. And in the afternoon, Beca's mother would pick them up and they'd spend the afternoon playing together. And even though they caught the bus most days, if it was raining and their parents were feeling particularly kind, they'd still occupy the backseat of either Lindsay's or Caroline's car.

"See you at school", she called, climbing into the car.

* * *

"Three weeks to go!" Stacie Conrad said excitedly, slamming her locker. "Three weeks, Swanson! And then eternal freedom!"

"Hold up college girl, you've got a four year degree in front of you", he chuckled.

"Are you just around to crush my summer dreams? Is that the only reason you're here?" she questioned. "I get it, you're dirty because Beca's not coming to the prom with us, but Jess, you've got to let that go. She told us that in seventh grade".

"Calm down", Benjamin Applebaum said in alarm, as Stacie waved around a nail file.

"We have a whole summer ahead of us! This is it! And I am not letting you crush my summer dream", Stacie said, cheerily waving Beca and Fat Amy down the hallway.

"Can someone tell flatbutt that coming to the prom is the only way to celebrate the end of our schooling life with my sexy fat arse?" Fat Amy announced.

"It's a good idea", Benji said enthusiastically. "I'll go-"

"Still no date Benj?" Beca said sympathetically.

"No", he grumbled.

"Aw, Benj".

"Still not coming to prom Beca?"

"Still not".

"It's prom, Beca!" Benji sounded wounded, as if she had personally insulted him. "It's our last hurrah! It's the night of nights!"

"Benjamin Applebaum I swear to God if you break out into a High School Musical song, we are dumping your ass", Stacie said seriously.

"Benji", Jesse laughed.

He sighed heavily. "There's nothing I can do to convince you?" he tried.

"Sorry Benj", she said, not sounding sorry in the slightest. "We'll graduate together, but no prom".

Benji clutched his heart, grinning at her. "Beca Mitchel, you hurt me", he said dramatically.

She grinned. "Sorry Benji. No prom for this guy".

"You do realise you're shattering Swanson's hope and dreams, right?" Fat Amy said, nudging the boy in question.

(He felt colour creeping into his cheeks, and Stacie's knowing grin burning into the side of his head.)

"I think I'm shattering our mothers' dreams", Beca said, fiddling with her headphone wires. "How long have they been speaking about that?"

"Since we use to take walks in the park in our strollers". Jesse almost rolled his eyes (a habit that he had picked up solely from her, years and years earlier).

"Right", Beca agreed.

Stacie didn't understand why the two of them just couldn't admit it and hook up and go to the prom together. They needed a hacksaw to cut through the sexual tension between them. Best friends her ass. They were going to be lovers.

* * *

"Hey Jesse, sweetie", Lindsay Mitchell greeted him cheerfully, as he pulled into the driveway.

"Hey Mrs Mitchell", he said with a smile, pulling his backpack from the passenger seat.

"Are you all ready for prom and to graduate?" she followed him up to the door and Jesse pushed open the door.

"I'm actually not going to prom", he said smoothly. "Mum, I'm home! Mrs Mitchell is here!"

"Hello Lindsay, hi honey", his mother greeted them, coming out of the office. "I can't believe he's not going to prom. You know, I always pictured our two going together".

"Me too", Lindsay admitted. "But Beca's so stubborn. She's perfectly happy to sit at home with her music than go out with her friends. I'm sure this is just to go against what her father says".

(That wasn't entirely true, Jesse reasoned. She wasn't a complete hermit. She occasionally allowed them to drag her away from her mixing equipment for group outings. "It's not a group outing unless the whole group is there, Bec-ca!" Fat Amy protested.)

"She's still not happy about college?" Caroline said sympathetically.

"She wants to go to California, and that's it. I can't even tell you how long she's spent arguing with her father and me about it. In true eighteen year old fashion, she's convinced that he's trying to ruin her life".

Jesse awkwardly lingered in the doorway, wondering if they'd forgotten he was there.

"I'm going to my room", he said finally. "Got a lot of homework". He grabbed a handful of cookies from the jar before taking the stairs two at a time. "Bye Mrs Mitchell, always nice to see you".

* * *

When they were younger, Beca and Jesse devised a complex flashlight system that they used to 'talk' once they were sent to bed. On many occasions, their parents had pried flashlights from their sweaty little fists, having fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation.

But when William Mitchell left his daughter that story night when they were nine, he took that part of Jesse's best friend. He took the flashlight wielding, dragon fighting, water slide sliding, rain dancing part that Jesse hadn't seen since.

Some nights, even nine years on, Jesse still contemplated pulling out the flashlight (that still sat in his top drawer) and flashing hello at the window.

But that night that nine year old Beca had summoned her Spidey-senses to climb up the side of the house in the pouring rain, she'd told him to close his window. And from that day on, they'd never exchanged messages (or shouts across the fence, rebelling against their double groundings) again.

He missed that. He missed the old Beca that had thought he was going to marry someday.

* * *

The next morning when Jesse opened his front door, he found himself face to face with Beca Mitchell herself.

"Oh my God!" he jumped back. "How long have you been standing there?"

"I was just about to knock!" she protested, having jumped back off the stoop. "Can I get a ride to school? Charlie's going into the shop".

"Of course", he said automatically, unlocking the minivan (ignoring her snickers, because apparently even two years on, it was the funniest thing that had ever happened in her life). "It'll be just like when we used to carpool, hey?" he grinned and Beca chuckled.

It was nothing like when they used to carpool.

"We caught the bus", she reminded him.

"Not when it rained", he defended. "And then you got a car and abandoned-"

"Excuse me, who drove your sorry ass around until you turned sixteen?" she retorted, her hand going straight for the radio. "I can't wait to get out of here".

"You're going to Barden", he said in confusion. Barden University in Atlanta, Georgia, was the college where Beca's father was a professor, and the topic of many arguments between Beca and her mother (Beca had a set of lungs on her and Jesse had heard it through The Breakfast Club one evening).

"As I told my father, he might have forced me to go to Georgia once but I'm eighteen now. There's nothing he can do about it", she said confidently. "I'm not going to Barden".

The one and only time that Beca had gone to Georgia was for her father's wedding, when the two of them were ten years old. And that had been under duress, despite Lindsay's promise that she'd be there for only three days in total.

(The night before she'd flown out she'd managed to convince Jesse to hide out in her treehouse with her, rebelling against her upcoming flight. Eight years later, Jesse still hadn't worked out how he'd been dragged into that situation.)

"I'm not going to Barden", she repeated firmly, glancing out the window.

Jesse shrugged. "Fair enough".

"What about you, college boy?" she questioned. "New York New York, the wonderful town!"

Jesse laughed. "The Bronx is up-"

"You're such a nerd!" she accused.

(That was the girl he had grown up with. She only appeared for a split second, but every time she did she made him smile.)

That was his Beca.

"Still not going to prom?"

"Still not going to prom?" she retorted. "Our last hurrah, as Benji put it. Jesse Swanson, rewriting every high school film he's ever watched and loved", she almost drawled. "Never expected the movie nerd to turn down the prom".

"I can't believe you Beca Mitchell", he scoffed, gently pressing down on the brake as they approached a stop sign. 'You may very well be breaking my mother's heart".

"They'll survive, Jess". She turned to look out the window again. "I've got too much to do; I don't have time go to the prom".

"Beca Mitchell, you're a mystery", he declared, and she grinned at him.


	3. Chapter 3

At lunch that day, Beca held her hand out the moment she had finished her taco (because it was taco day and that was the one day a week that she deterred from her usual PB and J). "Could I have your keys?"

"Beca Mitchell!" he said, aghast. "I forbid you to hijack my minivan!"

His eyes were wide and Stacie and Fat Amy spluttered with laughter, because only Jesse Swanson could say that sentence with a straight face. Only Jesse Swanson could say that with a straight face and mean it.

"No, I'm going to take a nap".

"Beca Mitchell!" he said again. "You are in the final month of your senior year. I'm not allowing you to go and nap in my car and miss the one class we have together".

"You're such a weirdo", she accused, and Jesse frowned, before dropping the keys into her outstretched palm.

"I promise I'm not stealing your car, Jesse", she said solemnly. "Scout's honour".

"That would mean so much more to us if you were a Scout", Benji commented.

"If I die of boredom in English, I'm blaming you", Jesse informed her. "I'll haunt you because it would be all your fault".

"And I'll live with a guilty conscience for the rest of my life", she told him seriously. "Thanks Jesse".

Picking up her lunch tray and her backpack, she bid them farewell, heading towards the student parking lot.

"One day you two are going to hook up", Fat Amy said confident, "And I'm totally going to say 'I told you so'".

"Me too", Stacie said absently, biting into a fry.

Jesse rolled his eyes (damn it, Beca Mitchell. He'd picked up that habit young and blamed her every single time). "Thanks guys, I'll keep it in mind".

"It's inevitable", Benji shrugged, pointing his straw at his best friend.

* * *

"Hey", Jesse said, tapping on the window of his minivan. Beca reached into the front seat to unlock it, smirking at him.

"I'm gonna take a stab and say you didn't die in English", she said innocently, and Jesse held his fingers half an inch apart.

"I was this close". He glanced around his car, smiling at the way she was stretched out in the backseat (she was so tiny that she could sit leaning against the door with her legs up on the seat and her feet couldn't touch the other door. She was that tiny). "What have you been doing?" he said instead, taking note of the way her laptop was open and her headphones were hanging around her neck (not an unusual sight with Beca). "Have you just been making music this whole time?"

"Absolutely not", she scoffed, folding her headphones into her backpack. "I, Jesse Swanson, have been finalising my life in Baton Rouge before graduating".

"That's very precise", he chuckled. "Getting ready for college?"

"Something like that". She shrugged, unwilling to elaborate.

(she totally wasn't doing that. he knew it, she knew that he knew it. there was something that Beca Mitchell wasn't telling him, but he wasn't going to push her. because whenever he had pushed her, she'd pushed him away.)

"That's cool", he said, changing the subject as he slid into the driver's seat. "When do you get Charlie again?"

"Hopefully tonight. If not, can I count on you Jess?"

"Of course".

Beca smiled- after everything, Jesse Swanson was the one constant in her life. "Side note, can we stop at the store on the way home?"

"Sure. Anything in particular?"

She looked away. "Nothing that you would need".

Colour crept into his cheeks. "Okay, got it. Okay".

"So, I heard my mother talking to your mother on the phone last night", she said, changing the subject once more. "Your mother wanted one good reason why you wouldn't go the prom. And I've gotta say, Jesse Swanson, king of the rom com, I expected you to be going. I mean, look around. You could get any one of those girls".

(He could get any one of those girls bar three. More specifically, the one he actually wanted. Whatever.)

"Won't be any fun to go to the prom without everyone", he shrugged, and she frowned slightly.

"Jesse-"

"No, Becs, I get it. I know you".

"Jesse", she complained. "Stop doing that".

"Anyway, since neither of us are doing anything on prom night, what do you say? Movies and brownies like the old days?"

"Brownies", she agreed. "No movies".

"I don't know what went wrong with your childhood", he informed her, removing one hand from the wheel and jabbing his finger in her direction. "We were literally raised side by side, how could you have turned out to hate movies so much?"

She laughed. "Just the way it is".

When they were little, she hadn't disliked movies to the extent that she did then. She would complain when she and Jesse watched one together (partly because it was funny to see him get so riled up and defensive over cartoon characters), but when her parents fought, they'd stick her in front of the television in the basement, hoping that the Disney music would block out their yelling. And while she often escaped to Jesse's or Chloe Beale's across the street, it wasn't enough for her.

He was the only good thing about their movie watching experience. He got so into the film, it was like he was there. And he'd cheer them on, chide them for being ridiculous and even shed a tear when the going got rough (he would deny it, but she saw it. with her own two eyes).

"We'll have to come to some sort of agreement", he said finally. "Not even The Breakfast Club? I've never shown you the full movie".

The Breakfast Club, the classic 1980s high school film, directed by the legendary John Hughes, was Jesse's all-time favourite movie. And that was saying something, because he had a collection of close to a thousand.

She looked at him. "I'll consider it", she said finally.

"Breaking Beca Mitchell. This is gonna be the best night ever!"

At the store, Jesse waited for Beca, choosing a box of kiwi strawberry juice pouches (their favourite flavour. He occasionally slipped one into her backpack, and when she discovered it she genuinely smiled) and a box of microwave popcorn.

"Ready to go?" Beca said, approaching him at the front of the store, clutching a plastic bag.

"I'm ready if you are", Jesse shrugged, offering her one of the juice pouches.

"Strawberry kiwi?" she checked, and Jesse nodded. "Thanks Jesse".


	4. Chapter 4

The two weeks leading up to graduation, in which they had their final exams, flew by and dragged on at the same time. Final exams took place, lockers were cleaned out (ever sentimental Beca Mitchell swept the contents of hers into a black garbage bag and tossed it into the boot of her car), and prom decorations were finalised. And as per exam period tradition, they sat around the lunch table and complained to each other.

"Guess who just failed Spanish", Fat Amy announced, coming towards them with her tray.

"Are you sure you're not going to come?" Benji asked for the twelfth time that lunch period (choosing to ignore Fat Amy, who claimed she failed every exam but actually did very well). "Even I have a date now!"

"Benji, you're going with Silent Lily", Fat Amy said. "She ate her twin in the womb".

Benji didn't look fazed. "At least I have a date", he said, almost smugly. "Beca?"

"Nope. I have things to finalise before I leave Baton Rouge". It was her answer to everything when they questioned her about her plans after graduation.

"Becs, you won't leave for Georgia for three months", Stacie reminded her, poking her with the plastic fork she was wielding. "Spare a moment of your intricate planning- what are you doing anyway? Digging an escape route via your bedroom floor so your father can't kidnap you?" for the briefest of moments, Jesse saw a flash of something (fear? Panic?) in Beca's eyes. But then she blinked and it was her usual blue that stared back at him.

"I'm not going to Georgia", she said smoothly, the iciness that they rarely saw creeping into her voice. "And no matter what my father says, he can't make me".

Stacie and Fat Amy exchanged glances, unsure about Beca's sudden mood change.

"That time of the month", Fat Amy deduced to Stacie, in a voice quieter than Silent Lily.

"So, summer", Jesse continued. "There's a whole bunch of new movies coming out, we have to go and see those".

"Oh, and we're totally using and abusing the Swanson pool", Fat Amy agreed. "Time to show off this sexy summer bod!" she slapped her stomach and Benji grinned.

"Beach beach beach", Stacie chanted with excitement, and Jesse laughed.

"Road trip to the beach!"

* * *

Despite everything Jesse said about not going to prom, his mother marched him down to the park where his friends were posing for photos.

"You spent your whole schooling life with these people Jesse", she told him, as she pushed him towards her own minivan. "At least get one photo with them- oh Jesse, couldn't you have changed?"

"They'll like it Mum, its Benji's favourite shirt. Benji gave me this shirt", he reminded her, tugging at his Star Wars shirt self-consciously.

"I always hoped that you'd go to the prom with Beca".

"I know, Mum".

"I guess you two have just grown apart- you're not as close as you used to be. I remember when you were little, you were joined at the hip and-"

"Mum, I remember too, I was there", he cut her off, trying to be patient. He loved his mother dearly, he really did, but sometimes she was too sentimental for him.

(And she was a Swanson by marriage.)

"Mrs Swanson, you dragged him down here!" Stacie said in delight. "Wearing Star Wars to prom, Jess?"

He laughed at the brunette, putting an arm around her waist. "You look great, Stace, you scrub up alright".

"Wish I could say he same for you Swanson".

"Amy, sweetheart, you look beautiful", Caroline told the blonde and she grinned.

"Thanks Mrs Swanson".

"And Benji, very handsome".

Benji was positively beaming, one arm around Silent Lily's waist.

"Hey Lily", Jesse said to their classmate since kindergarten, and she just smiled nervously at him.

"You couldn't convince Beca to come, Jess?" Fat Amy said, and Jesse shook his head.

"No, Amy, neither of us are going".

"That's a shame". Stacie sighed heavily, and he looked at her guiltily.

He posed for photos with the friends he had grown up with ("a friendship that lasts more than seven years is said to last a lifetime and that being said, it seems you're stuck with us", Stacie said conversationally and he laughed, pressing a noisy kiss to her cheek), before they climbed into the limo.

"Have fun!" Jesse called cheerily, before hopping back into the minivan.

* * *

The last thing that Jesse expected at ten minutes past eleven that night was for Beca Mitchell to swing his bedroom door open.

"Up and at 'em Swanson, let's go".

Jesse sat bolt upright, pulling his headphones from his ears in shock. "What?"

"Get that minivan into gear, let's go!"

"Huh", he said slowly, glancing at the clock. "and do we have a purpose for our midnight escapade?" he closed his laptop, before reaching for his well-worn sneakers (that, in one of their study sessions in sophomore year, Beca had drawn on, questioning whether or not it would make a good tattoo).

"Of course there's a purpose".

"And that brings me to my next question", he said, just as slowly. "What is that purpose?"

"Jesse Swanson", she drawled. "You're into movies. You're always making me watch stupid movies where the heroes go on a big adventure and end up getting into some sort of drama. Get that minivan into gear, Jess, this is our adventure".

"Is there anything illegal about this?" he questioned.

"What? What kind of influence do you think I am?" she almost gasped, pressing a hand to her chest.

He frowned, equally playfully, grabbing his car keys and a jacket. "Let's do this".

Hollering to inform his parents where he was going (although "Beca and I are going for a drive" didn't exactly give them a location), Beca trailed after him towards the car, grinning like a little schoolgirl who had gotten her way.


	5. Chapter 5

"Destination?" Jesse said, as he reversed out of the driveway, his parents barely registering that they were going.

"Unknown", she said with a straight face.

"What?"

"Just drive", she instructed.

This wasn't the first time they had done something like that (although, granted, it hadn't been a midnight escapade), and Jesse liked to hope it wouldn't be the last. Since Jesse got the minivan he had been named designated driver (although Fat Amy often took the driver's seat of the minivan and that title) and they'd taken a few day trips. They'd taken Stacie's trip to the beloved beach and driven all around Baton Rouge for absolutely no purpose at all than to drive.

"Just driving?" he checked, and she nodded, reaching for the radio.

It reminded Jesse of the road trip he had taken with Beca when they were teeny little kids (Beca was still teenier than he was). They'd packed up and driven to the coast to escape her parents' divorce, Beca and Jesse squashed in the backseat of Jesse's father's car, playing a range of car trip games that they still played to that day.

"Left here", Beca said quickly, and Jesse turned left once the light turned green.

"What's down here?" he wanted to know.

"The after prom party", Beca said with a grin.

As they crept past Ellah McCaughey's house, they saw Stacie on the front porch, drinking directly from a bottle that they couldn't make out. Jesse grinned.

"Yeah, that's Stacie".

They saw Fat Amy mermaid dancing in the front yard with a boy from their homeroom, and they saw Silent Lily ("I don't see Benji". "Maybe she killed him". "Don't even joke about that Jesse. You didn't have to sit next to her in homeroom in freshman year"), before continuing down the street at a regular speed.

"Remember when you first got the minivan?" Beca checked, as Jesse turned left. "And we just drove and drove and drove around Baton Rouge? And our parents adjusted our curfews and everything and we were still sneaking in at like one o'clock in the morning?"

Despite all their broken curfews, if the two of them had been together, they didn't get in trouble. So when Jesse woke up in the morning to a message from Beca saying something along the lines of 'if anyone asks we were together last night', he never questioned it.

"Yeah", he said with a small smile. "We had some good times".

They drove in mostly silence, apart from the radio (and when a song came on that they both liked, they'd sing quietly, their voices merging in perfect harmony). But occasionally Beca would pipe up with a memory that he had forgotten all about.

"Hey Jess, do you remember the summer we were seven?" she checked. "And we both got a new bike?"

Their training wheels had been taken off the year before, and the shiny new bikes that summer had been a well-received gift from both of them. If they weren't defending Beca's treehouse from dragons and monsters or splashing around in Jesse's pool (making up endless games that had little to no sense to anyone else), they would ride around. Their parents could see the playground from their houses, and would let them ride to and from the playground, only if they stuck together. Often Beca's father would take them along the bike track for the afternoon, wearing them out completely for the evening (often so much that Beca wouldn't even complain when a video was put on for them).

"Your six birthday party was over there", Beca said, pointing.

It had been. His sixth birthday party, where they'd dressed up as their favourite superhero and played pass the parcel before water bombs had been thrown (and even though that Beca claimed to be innocent, even twelve years later, he knew that she had instigated it).

They saw the park where they had spent so much of their time playing, pumping their little legs and trying to get higher and higher on the swings to beat the other. And although Jesse had always been bigger (he was at least a head taller than Beca, and she hated it), he had secretly always let her win because her smile was so big that it made him grin.

(Holy shit, how long had he been in love with the mystery that was Beca Mitchell?)

"Did you ever think we'd make it to graduation?" he questioned suddenly.

"I knew you would", she said with a shrug. "I had my doubts".

It wasn't that she didn't have the brains- Beca Mitchell was smarter than she gave herself credit for. She just had her heart set on other things aside from school, and that had deterred everything from her studies. But even at eighteen, the two of them studied together, finishing their finals and preparing for graduation.

"So, New York New York, huh college boy?" she questioned.

"So, Atlanta Georgia, huh college girl?" he shot back, and a spark of something he didn't place flickered through her blue eyes.

"I guess so, Swanson".

"Don't worry, we've got a whole summer ahead of us", he said confidently.

"Jesse Swanson if you start quoting High School Musical, I am getting out and walking home", she threatened.

(He hadn't forced her to watch the High School Musical movies. When the first one came out they had been in the sixth grade, and E! Network loving Stacie Conrad had rounded them up because she felt that they would be a good movie for them to watch as a group, despite the protests she had received all around. And once they had seen the first one, Stacie reasoned, it only made sense to see the second and third. It wasn't her fault the lyrics were so catchy.)

Jesse laughed, a proper laugh that bounced off the walls of the minivan, Beca breaking into a smile.

"High school wasn't meant to last forever", he warbled to her in perfect pitch and she pressed her hands to her ears dramatically.

"Swanson!"

That was the kind of fun they had had when they were younger, when Beca's father was still around. The kind of fun that they laughed about, but not necessarily had.

He wasn't sure exactly what they were doing. But he was spending the night of their senior prom with his best friend, his absolute best friend in the world (and although Benji, Stacie and Fat Amy would object, they knew how true it was), and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Even if they were driving aimlessly around Baton Rouge, Louisiana instead of partying with the people they had spent the last four years with (and, for the most part, the last twelve years).

They saw the pool in which they had learned to swim, the preschool where they'd held hands on their very first day before meeting Benji Applebaum and Stacie Conrad, and the movie theatre that their parents had dropped them off to on so many occasions. They pointed out all their favourite hangouts, including the ice cream parlour they frequented way too often.

They had no purpose, but it was nice.

* * *

"Want some popcorn?" Beca said suddenly, opening her backpack.

"Huh?" Jesse turned to her, taking his eyes off the road.

She pulled out a clip lock bag of microwave popcorn and two kiwi strawberry juice pouches, the ones they devoured when they were little. And the ones that Jesse still devoured, often tucking them into Beca's backpack before she noticed.

"You little legend", he declared.

It was two thirty a.m, but he'd never felt more awake. The windows were down and they were flying down the highway, with no real destination in mind. Beca's hair was flying in the wind, as crazy and untameable as ever, but she had a wide smile on her face.

"why are we doing this?" he questioned, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, a habit he'd picked up from Beca before he'd even gotten his license (it was so irritating. He had most of her habits, and he hated it).

"I'm just remembering Baton Rouge before we graduate". She shrugged. "And what better way to spend prom night?"

"And think about it, we're probably having a better time than some of them". He grinned and she shook her head in amusement, changing the radio station again.

They'd been like that when they were younger. Spending every waking minute of every single day together, they were comfortable just sitting in silence, as long as they were together. The smallest twitch of a muscle could send them into hysterics, and their inside jokes had lasted all the way into adulthood.

Every so often, he'd question what they were doing. And he'd get the same answer, only worded differently. They were rediscovering their childhoods before they left for college. They were making the most of Baton Rouge when the city was sleeping. They were seeing everything they'd be leaving behind when they went to college.

They were spending time together, the best of friends.

The pair of them spoke in short bursts of conversation, Beca pointing out something and the memory attached to it. Jesse laughed, copying her actions and reminding her of something that she'd forgotten. They spoke of it all, driving along the freeway. They remembered defending Beca's treehouse from dragons and the endless games of Marco polo in the Swanson pool. The way Beca's rolled up shirt exposed the two small scars on her arm, reminding Jesse of the fall that had cracked her little bones in three places.

(Even though her arm had snapped clean in half, she didn't cry. She simply clutched his hand on the way to the hospital, Jesse apologising almost hysterically.)

Eventually, they pulled off the freeway, back into Baton Rouge.

(If Beca had told him to keep going, he would have.)

"Stop, stop", she said suddenly. "Pull into the park".

It was three a.m, and they were pulling into a park that they had played at when they were children.

"What are we doing, Becs?" he questioned.

"Race you to the swings". Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight and he barely had his seatbelt off before she was scrambling through the mulch of the playground.

That's what they had done whenever they had gone to the park. It was a silent glance between the two of them, before they took off, their feet literally kicking up the dust. When they were really little, their parents had pushed them before their little legs got started, but now even Beca could push herself off the ground.

It was three o'clock in the morning, and they were pumping their legs up in the air, swinging higher than they had in years. Beca tossed her head back and laughed her hair flying.

He liked this Beca. This Beca was different- it wasn't his Beca, but it wasn't their Beca either.

* * *

It was almost five a.m when they pulled back into Jesse's driveway, and the first cracks of light were appearing in the sky. He knew that in just over two hours his mother would be waking him up before she left for work, and he'd feel like death warmed up. But he didn't care. He was full of energy and felt like a child again, and he and Beca was partner in crime once more.

"Thanks for a good night, Jesse Swanson". Beca grinned at him, sliding out of the passenger seat and closing the door gently (having slipped some of her birthday money savings into his glove box, to cover the petrol they had used).

He grinned at her. "My pleasure, Beca Mitchell".

"See you in the morning". She smiled, creeping towards her house. "Don't wake up the 'rents".

"Hey, we can't break curfew if we're together".

And she laughed, her voice breaking through the silence of the neighbourhood. "Good night, nerd".

"Night, weirdo".

* * *

**Jesse Swanson took a photo with Instagram: she's not going to be the girl stuck at home in the 'burbs #3amparkadventures **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys! I normally don't do this, but I've been nominated as 'best overall author' for the Pitch Perfect awards! My other story, Three Times the Giggles, has been nominated as 'funniest story'. It would mean so much to me if you voted- through review or PM. The winners are announced on June 10th. **

**Have a great day/night wherever you are!**

**Aussiebabe290 (Rhyleigh) x**

* * *

At breakfast the next day (he wandered downstairs running on about ninety minutes of sleep- he was shattered but he was full of adrenaline at the same time), his parents questioned where he and Beca had gone.

"We just went for a drive, Mum", Jesse explained (because that was all he could explain. He didn't know why they'd driven around, he didn't know the purpose of their expedition. All he knew was that they drove around, reminiscing). "We drove around Baton Rouge and talked and discussed what we were going to do this summer".

"Your mother and I thought you were going to the prom after party".

"No, we didn't do that". Jesse shook his head. "Everyone else did, though. I'm sure I'll hear all about it from Benji".

* * *

The phone rang at approximately three in the afternoon the next day, and he was met by a very hungover Stacie Conrad.

"Hey Stace!" he said, a little too enthusiastically.

"Nuh", she croaked. "Don't talk, your voice hurts my head. Why was it when I went on Instagram looking for photos of last night I find a picture of you and Beca at a freaking park?"

"Oh, that".

"What the hell happened when we were at prom? And why did I have to find out from Benji? Why did he have to find out from Fat Amy? Why is she not hungover? She drank more than me!"

"Wait, what? Oh, and Ames can hold her alcohol. She's Australian".

"Benji called me and was all 'Stace have you seen Instagram?' before running off to vomit".

"That's a charming picture to paint". He grimaced, pushing aside his bowl of microwave popcorn. "Thanks".

"What went down?"

"I don't know, Stace. Beca broke into my house and we went for a drive around Baton Rouge".

"At three in the morning?"

"Technically we left at eleven".

"I love her, I love the crap out of her, but I will never ever understand how her mind works". Stacie sighed heavily, her alcohol foggy mind still trying to process everything. "I'll call you back, okay? I think I'm gonna puke".

"You're a real charmer".

"Bye".

* * *

Despite everything that his hungover friends said, they ambled over later that afternoon, wearing sunglasses and wincing at the slightest move (except Fat Amy. She was just as loud as ever). They situated themselves around the pool, Fat Amy sitting on the steps with a foam pool noodle and Stacie and Benji lying on two of the several deckchairs.

"Hey Shortie McGee!" she waved cheerily as Beca emerged from her house, questioning the noise. "Summer traditions! Pool! Get over here flatbutt!"

"How was the party Benj?" she asked innocently, and he groaned from underneath his towel.

"Don't talk to me".

"Was prom worth it?"

He grinned a little. "So worth it".

"I missed your ass", Stacie informed her and she moved closer towards her, grinning.

"Aw Stace".

"We need to take a day trip after graduation", Fat Amy said. "Or a road trip. Let's go on a road trip!"

"Like the beach last summer", Beca agreed. Their Fourth of July trip to the beach broke all traditions they had grown up with, but they'd love it nonetheless, watching the fireworks explode over the water.

"The unbreakable Beca Mitchell has been broken!" Jesse gasped dramatically. "Next thing you know you'll be suggesting we go to the movies".

Stacie chuckled a little as Beca screwed up her nose. "And there's the Beca we know".

Even Beca laughed at that. "Thanks for that very unflattering photograph on Instagram, too, Jess. I appreciated that".

(It wasn't unflattering in the slightest. It showed a glimpse of the girl they'd grown up with, with her hair flying behind her and a huge smile stretched across her face. Regardless of the dark eyeliner or the tattoos visible, that showed his Beca.)

"Yeah, what was up with that? You didn't go to prom but you went gallivanting around Baton Rouge at three in the morning?" Stacie questioned, dipping her legs into the pool.

"Trying to remember everything before we graduate next week".

"We've got all summer to remember things", Benji pointed out.

"I know".

But in a week, they were graduating. And try as they might, nothing would be the same again. They were headed in completely different directions, scattered throughout the country, and even though they knew they'd stay together and remain the best of friends, there was only a week left where they were seniors in high school, spending every day together. After that, they were graduates with only one summer ahead of them before everything changed.

"One more week", Stacie said, nodding.

* * *

**Next chapter, graduation :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys! I normally don't do this, but I've been nominated as 'best overall author' for the Pitch Perfect awards! My other story, Three Times the Giggles, has been nominated as 'funniest story'. It would mean so much to me if you voted- through review or PM. The winners are announced on June 10th. **

**Have a great day/night wherever you are!**

**Aussiebabe290 (Rhyleigh) x**

* * *

"Happy graduation day!" Caroline cheered, as Jesse came down the stairs, dressed and ready to graduate. "I made chocolate chip pancakes, your favourite!"

"Thanks Mum". He smiled at her.

"And Beca and Lindsay are coming over for breakfast", she added, handing Jesse a cup of coffee.

He smiled, taking his usual seat at the table.

"I can't believe you're graduating", Barry commented. "It seems like just yesterday you and Beca were starting preschool together".

"Good morning", Lindsay called, leading Beca through the hallway into the kitchen.

"Hey weirdo", she greeted him, sliding into the seat beside him and taking his mug of coffee.

"Hey, not fair!" he reached for it, Beca turning around to take a sip. "Beca! I haven't even got any!"

"One sip!" she protested right back, and Caroline laughed, because that was the way it had always been. Jesse sighed, taking a sip of his coffee before handing it back to Beca.

"There".

"Thanks weirdo".

"Oh, where are the five year olds who started kindergarten together?" Lindsay wanted to know, grinning.

"It's not like I've grown, Mum". Beca almost rolled her eyes, making Lindsay laugh.

"That is so true", Jesse agreed, and she frowned at him.

"Thanks, weirdo".

* * *

"Mum, are you serious?"

"No, no, we aren't doing this".

"Yes we are", Caroline said firmly. "We got one for your first day of school; we need one for your last day".

The photograph of Beca and Jesse posing on the front steps of Jesse's house sat on both their mantles. It was classic- little five year olds, wearing brand new clothes with too-big backpacks strapped to their backs. Beca had her brown hair in pigtails and Jesse had his spiked up. They were so little, and yet so grown up at the same time.

And there they were, thirteen years later, dressed for graduation, standing on the front steps of Jesse's house, arguing it out.

"We aren't doing this".

"We are doing this", Lindsay said firmly, holding up her camera. "Guys, smile".

It was almost tradition for the two of them to argue against tradition. But they barred their teeth and smiled for both cameras.

"Sorry Becs, sweetheart. Thank you for doing this. You've made this mama's heart very happy". Lindsay smiled at her daughter, hugging Jesse quickly. "Thank you, Jesse honey".

"Thanks Beca, sweetie". Caroline kissed Beca's cheek, before hugging the two of them together. "You two are growing up. Graduating… and before we know it you'll be off to college!"

Jesse laughed. "Let's get this show on the road".

* * *

Despite going to the same place and leaving at the same time, Jesse and his parents arrived before Beca and Lindsay did (Jesse suspected it was because they were still arguing over what she was doing when summer ended). He pointed Barry and Caroline towards the auditorium, before dressing in his gown and cap and going to find his friends.

"Hey Jess", Benji called, adjusting his gown.

"Check out these gowns!" Stacie laughed, sashaying towards Benji and Jesse. "Check this out!"

"We're looking pretty smart", Fat Amy agreed. "Look at this! Lookin' good, Benj".

"Thanks Ames". Benji adjusted his gown, which wasn't quite the same as his usual cape. "Where's Becs?"

"She's still coming- guess who re-enacted the famous porch photo?" Jesse grinned (the porch photo from when they were five was one of Stacie's favourite things in the world).

"Oh my God, I want to see a photo of this", Benji laughed. "Hey, there she is!"

"Well well well, look who decided to show up!" Stacie laughed, as Beca was the last to join them, her graduation gown pooling at her ankles.

"Seriously. The smallest size they had and it's still too big", she complained. "Look!"

"You're five foot nothing", Fat Amy commented. "You're the shortest person I know. Probably in the world".

"Whoa, that one was harsh".

"That one was true". Stacie grinned, reaching over to adjust Beca's cap a little. "Alright, let's do this".

The five of them, hand in hand, moved towards the auditorium before separating into their assigned seats (Fat Amy had complained about it very vocally, because in her opinion, alphabetising the graduation ceremony was outdated and unnecessary).

The hall was full of people they'd met throughout their schooling life- ones they'd started kindergarten (even preschool) with, students that had joined halfway through. Elementary school, middle school, and all of high school. But it was coming to an end and despite no one wanting it to change, it was.

* * *

If Jesse was honest, he tuned out the speeches. They'd all heard them before, and they were probably going to hear them again. He was more focused on taking in the last moments in their high school auditorium, the four walls that they'd been confined to so often.

But then the speeches were over, and suddenly, they were getting called for their diplomas. Jesse sat up a little straighter in his seat, awaiting his name.

"Benjamin Applebaum", the principal announced and Benji, grinning excitedly, strode towards the stairs. He flashed his friends a quick thumbs up before smiling for a photograph, clutching his diploma.

"Aw, Benj", Stacie chuckled lightly. Although they were seated in alphabetical order, she could see Beca, Fat Amy and Jesse, and they too were wearing grins at their nerdy friend's antics.

"Stacie Conrad".

Stacie swayed towards the stage, grinning excitedly. She pumped the principal's hand up and down, finding Beca, Jesse and Fat Amy in the crowd. She grinned at them before returning to her seat, proudly holding her diploma.

"Amy-"

"Woooo!" the Australian burst out, charging towards the stage. She accepted her diploma, pumping their principal's hand up and down and sending waves of laughter throughout their audience.

"Beca Mitchell".

Beca, wearing a real smile (and not her usual smirk) accepted her diploma, meeting Jesse's eyes in the audience. He gave her a thumbs up and she grinned, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Jesse Swanson".

Lucky last, the fifth member of their group. He strolled to the stage, accepting his diploma, finding his friends and his parents in the crowd. He grinned, and Beca, Stacie, Fat Amy and Benji smiled back at him.

At that moment, he knew. No matter what life threw at them, they'd make it through, as a group. Like they always had.

* * *

They found each other only moments after their caps had landed, as if force was pulling them together.

"After twelve long years, we've done it", Stacie said proudly, pulling Benji and Beca closer together. "Look at us! High school graduates!"

"And in four years, college graduates!" Benji said brightly. "We've got to get together after that".

"No. no college graduations, no speak of college. We've got three months just for us, and we're going to live it like we've never lived summer before", Stacie said firmly.

"I've got drinks", Jesse called, coming towards them, balancing five plastic cups of soda. "Amy!"

"Fat Amy has graduated!" the blonde whooped, wrapping her arms tightly around Beca and nearly crushing the petite brunette. "Here's to the rest of our lives!"

The five of them, a group since the fourth grade, were heading in five different directions for college. But they still had summer.

"To us", Jesse said, raising his glass and squeezing Beca's side. She grinned, leaning into Stacie's side and Stacie pulled Benji even closer. "To who we were and who we are. And who we'll be and this moment, and the rest of our lives".

"Aw, Jess". Stacie grinned, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I don't understand why you had to go and ruin a perfectly good moment with a movie quote", Beca said after a moment, and Jesse hollered triumphantly.

"You knew it was a movie quote Beca Mitchell, I have done my job!"

A camera captured that moment perfectly in time. Jesse punching his fist into the air, Beca rolling her eyes and Benji, Stacie and Fat Amy laughing. It epitomised their friendship and captured the last moment of an era and the first of another.

* * *

**What movie did Jesse quote?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi guys! I normally don't do this, but I've been nominated as 'best overall author' for the Pitch Perfect awards! My other story, Three Times the Giggles, has been nominated as 'funniest story'. It would mean so much to me if you voted- through review or PM. The winners are announced on June 10th. **

**Have a great day/night wherever you are!**

**Aussiebabe290 (Rhyleigh) x**

* * *

Two days after graduation (having spent the first official day of summer lying in the air conditioned front room of Stacie's house with his friends), Jesse had rolled over to look at the photo of he and Beca as young children, when his thoughts were broken by hurried discussion happening on the storey below him. So kicking off his blankets, he curiously shuffled towards the stairs, wondering what was going on in his kitchen that early in the morning.

"What's going on?" Jesse yawned, coming down the stairs in his boxers and mismatched socks. "Oh, hey- Mrs Mitchell? What's going on?"

"Beca's gone, Jess". Lindsey's eyes were full of worry, her cheeks showing the remnants of tears. "She's gone, and I don't know where she's gone".

"Jess, have you spoken to Beca?" Barry wanted to know. "Lindsey thought you might have spoken to Beca".

"Lindsey, have you spoken to Will?" Caroline said gently. "She could have left for Barden".

"No, I haven't. Beca wouldn't go to Georgia". Jesse shook his head, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "No, she's totally against Barden, there's no way she's going to Georgia".

"I agree with Jesse, we've spent countless hours arguing. She's against college all together, but Will and I have insisted she go. He told her that if she can tolerate a year of college he'll help her with the money for her music", Lindsey said sadly. "That's why she's going to Barden, so Will can keep an eye on her and make sure she's actually going to her classes. She doesn't want to go to Barden; my Beca wouldn't go to Barden if she ran. My Beca wouldn't run".

(Beca Mitchell had never been a runner. She'd push people away, but she wouldn't run, because she had been so hurt when her father had run. Running was for the weak, and Beca Mitchell sure as hell wasn't weak.)

"No, she wouldn't". Jesse took a swig of his father's coffee, yawning. "What do you mean, she just left?"

"I woke up this morning and she was gone", Lindsey said. "Charlie's gone, and all her mixing equipment is gone too. But nothing else has been touched".

"Oh my God". Jesse breathed out heavily, taking another swig of coffee (before his father snatched it away). "I'm going upstairs; I'll be back in a minute".

Once he reached his room, he called Benji. He called Benji four times before his friend answered; sounding worse for wear and sleep deprived (their summers were full of nights where they were up until four a.m and woke up after midday).

"Beca's gone, Benji", Jesse blurted out, and Benji yawned on the other end of the phone.

"Do you know what time it is?" he complained. "It's summer, Jesse!"

"Beca's gone", he repeated. "Beca up and left sometime between coming home from Stacie's and seven o'clock this morning when her mother realised".

"What?" he said, bewildered. "Where's she gone?"

"Benji, I know it's early, but please try to keep up!" Jesse said desperately, stepping into jeans and hurriedly zipping them up. "I'm going to find Beca".

"You don't even know where she is!"

Jesse stared out of his window, looking directly into hers. For the first time since she'd instructed him to close his window ten year earlier, both were open, and he could see directly into her bedroom. It looked exactly the same as always, with the exception of the lack of music equipment on her desk. Other than that, it looked like Beca was simply downstairs, or had popped down to the mall for the morning.

"Jess?" Benji said again.

They'd talked about it when they were kids. While Jesse had always aspired to go off to college, Beca hadn't. Her dream had been to head to Los Angeles, to produce music. She wanted to make music, and she was good at it.

"I know exactly where Beca is", he said suddenly, grabbing his car keys from the desk. "I know where she is, Benj, she's in LA. She's in LA; she's been talking about it since we were kids. I can't believe I didn't think of this before, that's where she is. I'm going to LA".

"What? Jesse, no!" Benji said, but Jesse was long gone.

"I'm going for a drive!" Jesse called, coming down the stairs with his keys and his wallet.

"Where?" his mother questioned, and Jesse braced himself for the 'you can't drive across the country on your own speech' (he'd never gotten it before, but he was sure that was what was coming).

"I'm going to California".

"What?" Caroline, Barry and Lindsey said at the same time, their voices full of surprise and shock.

"That's where Beca is".

"You don't know that", Barry objected.

"Beca wouldn't have gone to California", Lindsey said, wiping her eyes.

"You can't drive to California on your own!" Caroline protested. "I don't think you know how far that is, Jesse!"

"Listen Mum, I haven't been with Beca for twenty three years like you and Dad but we have been together for eighteen. And that's a lot longer than most people! When we were born you used to take us for walks in our strollers together and we became best friends. I knew everything about that girl! Her favourite colour, her favourite food, her favourite place in the world. When we went to Disneyland she held my hand on Space Mountain and said that she knew I was scared, but she just wanted the comfort. And then her dad left and she became a completely different person but she was still my best friend, she was the one who scaled the side of the house in the freaking pouring rain because we were best friends. And then when we were fourteen she kissed me at Stacie's party, she pushed me up against the wall of the basement and kissed me, she gave me my first kiss. And all I understood was that that was my best friend. And she might be an absolute total mystery to me now, she has been since we were nine, but she's still my best friend. And that's why I'm going".

By the time that Jesse had finished his speech and explaining the rest of his thought process ("Beca's in California and I know it, I'm taking a cross country road trip and I'll call you when I get there"- and if he was honest, he didn't have a thought process), Benji, Fat Amy and Stacie were in his driveway.

"What are you doing?" he shouted at them, flinging open the driver's door. "What the hell is this?"

Stacie opened the back of the minivan, ignoring him and climbing inside.

"Get out!"

"You can't go to LA", Benji objected. "It's a two day drive!"

"You can't go without us", Stacie said. "Chop chop! We've got to bring Shortie home!"

"Haul ass!" Fat Amy agreed, climbing in beside Stacie.

"Go!" Benji said urgently, stretching the passenger seat seatbelt across his chest. "You can't drive that long on your own, you'll kill yourself".

Never in his wildest dreams did Jesse imagine he'd be taking a cross-country road trip on the first day of summer to find his childhood best friend, who may or may not even be in LA, but he was.

Jesse pressed his foot down on the accelerator and the minivan jerked forward, leaping into action.

(The Ford was so not made for that kind of action.)

"Let's do this!" Fat Amy whooped. "Woo! Road trip!"

* * *

It occurred to them ten minutes away from Jesse's house that they had no real plan of action. So Stacie scrounged up a receipt from the glove box (leaning over Benji to do so) before finding a pen on the backseat. While Benji programmed the GPS, she wrote a very basic list of what they would need to get when they stopped ("I'm only stopping when necessary, Stace-" "You'll stop when we tell you to stop, Swanson") and how many hours of driving they would get to do each.

"Benj, how far?"

Benji glanced up from his phone. "It's twenty six hours and thirty seven minutes from Baton Rouge to LA. Straight, not accounting for stops or delays".

"We aren't stopping and we certainly won't be hitting any delays".

They'd been many places in Carla the minivan since Jesse got his license in sophomore year, all over Louisiana. And every trip, no matter how big or small, had always involved stops and delays.

"You don't know she's in LA", Stacie said.

"I'm ninety nine percent sure she's in LA, I've known Beca for eighteen years. She's going to be there, she's been talking about LA since we were kids".

"Just because she's been talking about it doesn't mean she's going to be there!" Stacie objected.

"Look, she left somewhere between seven- that's when we got back from yours, Stace- and seven", Jesse objected, "We're probably only a few hours behind her".

"You don't know she's in LA!"

"I do!" he exploded, gripping the steering wheel. "I know Beca well enough to know that she's gone to LA".

"It's only eight hours to Atlanta", Benji spoke up, "If she went to Barden".

"She didn't. Why would she go to Barden? She hates the thought of Barden and hates the people at Barden. Her mum bribed her to go there for the wedding, remember?"

"It's thirty and a half hours to drive from LA to Atlanta".

"We are not going to Atlanta", Jesse said firmly, trying to steer their attention back to their destination. "We're going to LA. Los Angeles, not Atlanta".

Fat Amy leaned forward, trying to break the tension in the car. "Woo! Road trip!"

And despite everything, Stacie, Jesse and Benji laughed, the sound bouncing off the walls of the minivan.

* * *

**Shoutout to everyone who got Jesse's movie quote in the last chapter! Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants is one of my faves :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys! I've been nominated as 'best overall author' for the Pitch Perfect awards! My other story, Three Times the Giggles, has been nominated as 'funniest story'. It would mean so much to me if you voted- through review or PM. The winners are announced on June 10th. **

**Have a great day/night wherever you are!**

**Aussiebabe290 (Rhyleigh) x**

* * *

Most summer road trips undertaken by recent high school graduates were planned and well thought out by those in the car. That was the difference between Jesse Swanson and his friends and most recent high school graduates. They were going all out, Thelma and Louise style ("I don't think Carla could pull off Thelma and Louise style", Fat Amy commented), cross country without an exact location. Los Angeles was a big city, and they really had no idea where they'd end up.

They were an hour away from home when Stacie started poking around, trying to find their supplies. So Jesse tossed his and Benji's wallets into the backseat and she emptied hers and Fat Amy's purses.

"We have a packet of orange Tic Tacs, fourteen fast food napkins, an iPhone charger, half a box tampons, a box of condoms, four nail files, a Cherry Red polish and a top coat, a Chapstick, a Jamba juice card that is three punches away from a free one, four cell phones, a pack of gum and thirteen dollars in cash", she announced. "Oh, and a pencil".

"And we're going how far?" Fat Amy questioned, and Stacie snickered a little.

"There's money in my bank account", he reminded them, and Stacie held up his ATM card.

"Good. We'll need to stop for gas fairly soon", Benji said, leaning over to check the dashboard.

"No, Carla-"

"Jesse Swanson", he said incredulously. "Are you really going to tell me 'we don't need gas I know my minivan' when we're travelling across the country to find the girl that may or may not even be in California? We are stopping for gas".

"Good, because I have to pee", Stacie voiced, leaning over the seat to see what Benji was doing. He had been playing on his phone since they'd left Baton Rouge, and she had a feeling that he wasn't playing Candy Crush.

"Check her Twitter", Fat Amy said suddenly, leaning forward to see over Benji's shoulder. "And her Instagram".

"Already have, she hasn't checked in or anything".

"We don't even know she's going to LA!"

"What's her last tweet, Benj?" Stacie questioned, leaning forward.

"She tweeted a graduation cap emoticon yesterday. Other that than she tweeted the night of prom. Which is so weird for Beca, because she's a huge tweeter".

"What did she say?" Jesse asked curiously.

"That morning she tweeted 'when you grow up your heart dies'-"

"That's a movie quote", Jesse blurted out (it was his favourite movie, and one of the few that he had been able to force Beca to sit through). "Why the hell is she quoting movies?"

"Yeah, this is Beca", Benji agreed. "And we had to force her to watch it with us".

"Take note, she looked like she was crying".

"Beca doesn't cry".

"No, but she almost did".

"Instagram?" Fat Amy wanted to know.

"A photo of us at graduation". Benji nodded.

"Aw, I saw that! Louisiana love, I thought that was cute".

"That girl makes no sense", Jesse said suddenly. "She was actually excited for this summer- she said so herself, it's the last summer before everything changes".

Their lives were marked by summers. The summer that Jesse's family got the pool, the summer where they'd all got chicken pox and were quarantined for two weeks. The trips to the beach, the movies and the old fashioned ice cream parlour. Their skin got darker, their hair got lighter, and the nights seemed endless.

Only that summer was starting out very unlike others.

* * *

"When did we lose Beca?" Stacie said suddenly, breaking Fat Amy's tapping against the window.

They were ninety six minutes into their journey, and they were beginning to wonder if taking off across the country without a plan was the best thing they could have done.

(Jesse could have confirmed it; it was not their best idea ever. But they'd had worse ideas in their time.)

"About twelve hours ago", Benji said absently, where he was frantically googling where the best places to stop were.

"When her dad left", Jesse said, gripping the steering wheel. "I've never ever seen Beca cry and she cried herself to sleep Stace. She didn't even cry when she broke her arm in three places falling out of the treehouse".

(The look of pain on Beca's five year old face was imprinted on his memory, he'd never ever be able to forget that. she'd let out a squeak as she tumbled from the treehouse and the crack of five year old bone had echoed through the backyard. Jesse had started to shriek apologies, scrambling down from the tree, and had held her good hand the entire way to the hospital.)

"We'll get her back", Stacie said. "This is gonna be the best summer ever. We've just got to find the girl we lost along the way".

"Let's play a game", Fat Amy said suddenly, trying to bring an element of fun into their almost all-day road trip. "I-spy with my little eye… something beginning with S".

"Sky", Stacie said.

"I meant R".

"Road", Benji called, and Fat Amy laughed.

* * *

At exactly one hundred and twelve minutes into the trip, the inevitable was asked.

"Are we there yet?" Fat Amy wanted to know.

"I have to pee", Stacie announced.

"Hold it", Jesse advised, his eyes on the road.

"You can't tell a girl to hold it!" Stacie complained (she'd been holding it for a while). "I have to pee and I have to pee now".

"Are we stopping anytime soon?" Fat Amy questioned.

"Yes, because I have to pee".

"I'm hungry".

(Jesse imagined that was like what travelling with children would be like. He'd gone places with the two of them plenty of time, but never on a cross country road trip.)

"I'll take the next leg", Benji offered. "There's a gas station at the next exit. We need to get gas soon anyway; we can kill three birds with one stone".

"Fine", Jesse agreed. "Be ready, if you're not we're leaving without you. We need to keep speed to get to LA".

When Jesse cruised into the gas station, Stacie and Fat Amy leapt from the backseat, one running toward the bathroom and the other running towards the convenience items. And while Jesse filled the tank with gas, Benji informed him that not only was he driving for the next four to six hours, they were stopping for the night (because it was dangerous and they weren't going to be able to bring Beca home if they were dead on the side of the road).

But somehow, despite Benji claiming that he was taking the next leg of the trip, Jesse found himself back in the driver's seat (despite Fat Amy's protests, because she liked to think of herself as the official driver). And Stacie and Fat Amy clambered into the back, the latter hammering on the back of Jesse's seat to tell him to step on the gas.

"Did you get everything you needed?" Jesse checked, turning around to look into the backseat before pulling out of the gas station. The girls had two bulging grocery bags between them, pulling out the contents and scattering it around the seats.

"We got you some Hershey's kisses", Stacie informed him, tossing them over the seat. "Knock yourself out".

(Benji ripped open the bag because if he wasn't going to drive, he was going to indulge.)

There was nothing of nutritional value between them, but that was the perks of a road trip, Fat Amy reasoned. And they were all going to die someday.

* * *

"Here Jess", Stacie said, leaning over the seats with a small box.

"What the hell is that?"

"No-Doz. You've been up longer than any of us".

"And you won't give up the driver's seat", Fat Amy griped. "What happened to Fat Amy being the designated driver?"

"Benji loves it when Fat Amy talks in third person".

She grinned a little.

"Can we stop?" Benji asked suddenly. "I kinda have to pee. I didn't get to go when we stopped last time".

It had been an hour since their stop for gas, but there was road works and Jesse was stuck. So, sighing slightly, he nodded. "Alright".

"There's a gas station up ahead- and we'll swap drivers, too", Stacie said firmly. "We need to break this up Jess, we're driving twenty six hours to find this girl and we aren't going to make it with you behind the wheel that entire time".

So when they stopped, Jesse climbed into the backseat with Fat Amy behind the wheel, Stacie choosing to stay in the back for the next two hours. They'd worked it out so they'd be taking two hour shifts (despite what Benji said about potentially getting stuck in traffic) so they'd end up in California in one piece.

"Three and a half hours down!" Benji called brightly.

"Only twenty two and a half more to go", Fat Amy said brightly, and she turned the radio up. "Let's do this! Woo! Road trip!"

Seeing and hearing four teenagers blasting Farrell's 'Happy' whilst singing and clapping along would make anyone smile, without knowing where they were headed. For the other drivers on the highway, it was a car full of college bound high school graduates, off on the adventure of a lifetime.

And they were.

"_BECAUSE I'M HAPPY! CLAP ALONG IF YOU FEEL LIKE A ROOM WITHOUT A ROOF. BECAUSE I'M HAPPY! CLAP ALONG IF YOU FEEL LIKE HAPPINESS IS THE TRUTH. BECAUSE I'M HAPPY! CLAP ALONG IF YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPINESS IS TO YOU! BECAUSE I'M HAPPY! CLAP ALONG IF YOU FEEL LIKE THAT'S WHAT YOU WANNA DO_".

* * *

**Who got the references?**

**Don't forget to vote! xx**


	10. Chapter 10

By ten o'clock that night, Jesse was buzzing with caffeine and Benji and Fat Amy were passed out in the backseats (double strapped in with both seatbelts). And then there was Stacie, sitting beside him and keeping him awake, tapping a half full can of V with her perfectly manicured nails.

"You know, Jess, if we end up driving two days to find out she's not even in LA, I'm not gonna be happy", she informed him, tapping away and starting to irk him. "But there was no way you were doing this on your own. I mightn't think she's in Cali, but we're going to find her and bring her home".

"Stace, she's been talking about LA since we were kids", Jesse said softly. "She's never wanted to go to college. She's always wanted her music. That's her dream; I'm telling you Stacie, that's where she is. I know Beca".

"Jess, that girl is not the one we went to elementary school with", she reminded him. "Beca's changed more than any of us, you need to remember that. She changed when we were in the fourth grade".

"I know", he said, trying to keep calm. "But she is still the girl that we grew up with. She's still the girl that lived next door to me and I used to send flashlight messages through the window. When Will left he took the best part of her, but you know, sometimes when it's just the two of us, I still get to see that girl. It's not often, Stacie, but when I do it's like she's never changed".

"But Jesse", Stacie said, putting the can of V into the cup holder and resuming the use of her nail file. "She's not that girl. I know that you know her better than any of us- the two of you grew up together, you were raised together- but she's just not that girl anymore". She paused suddenly, a horrible thought hitting her. "Oh my- Jess, you don't think that she would have done anything stupid, do you? I mean I know she was rebelling against college-"

"Don't even say it", he said sharply (that had been lingering in the back of his mind since they'd left Baton Rouge, and he didn't want those thoughts wandering through his head). "No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't even think about it".

Stacie sighed heavily, putting her hand on top of Jesse's on the gear stick.

It was always the case, when they got together. The later the night got, the deeper the conversations got. It was when the sun went down that they learnt the most- and it had been that way since they were kids.

When they stopped just after one, Stacie and Jesse crawled into the backseats, collapsing on the seats in exhaustion, while Fat Amy took the wheel. And Benji, who was keeping an eye on Beca's Twitter and Instagram accounts (which had had no activity since they left Louisiana), stayed awake to keep her company.

"Wake me up if she does anything", Jesse said almost drowsily, his head hitting the seat.

* * *

"Get up get up get up get up!" Fat Amy said, shaking Stacie's shoulder and the brunette slapped her away.

"Where are we?" Jesse said groggily, peeling his face off the window. "Did Beca tweet something?"

They were somewhere in Texas, according to Benji. And they were halfway there.

"We got breakfast!" Fat Amy said, holding up four gas station sandwiches and a packet of Oreos. "And Stace, it's your turn to drive".

So yawning, Stacie climbed over the seat, accepting her ham and cheese sandwich ("are you sure this is ham?" "I know what ham is") and starting the engine.

"We're halfway there guys!" Jesse said, trying to shed some light on their situation. "On the third day of summer we'll arrive in California!"

"There's got to be a reason I love you, Swanson, but this sure as shit is not it", Stacie grumbled slightly. "Let's do this".

* * *

"Question!" Fat Amy announced from the driver's seat. "When we get to LA what are we doing?"

"What do you mean, what are we doing? We're finding Beca".

"I think you're forgetting how big Los Angeles is Swanson".

"You could call Chloe", Benji advised, stretching out in the backseat. "She's friends with Beca. She lives in LA, doesn't she?"

Chloe Beale, three years their senior, had grown up on the same street as Beca and Jesse, across the road. The redhead had caught the bus with them every day during elementary school, and had always cheerfully told them stories about middle school. While the Beale family had never been as close as the Mitchells and the Swansons, but Beca and Jesse were close with Chloe. She was the older sister than neither of them had.

"Chloe's in LA", Jesse breathed, pulling out his phone. "Benj, how long until the next gas stop?"

"We're stopping in exactly seventeen minutes".

Their road trip was calculated to the minute. They were taking as little time as possible to cross the country and while it was annoying as shit (according to Fat Amy), it was how they rolled.

"Call Chloe", Stacie advised. "And then call your mother. She's texted you like fifty eight times. And that's being a bad son by not replying".

"My mother always told me not to text and drive".

"You're not driving".

"My mother doesn't know that".

* * *

They were exactly one thousand and three miles into their one thousand, eight hundred and twenty mile road trip when they hit a bump in the road. A literal bump in the road, as the minivan leapt and Stacie jolted out of her sleepy state.

"what the hell was that?" she bellowed, as the car careened to the side of the road, Fat Amy turning the wheel in the opposite direction the car was going and Benji grabbing for the wheel.

Fat Amy, the current driver, flung open the door and hopped out to inspect the car, leaving her shell shocked passengers seat belted in. And then she saw the literal bump in the road.

"Shit".

"What?" Jesse stuck his head out the car door. "We actually killed something?"

"No we about it", Stacie corrected, yawning a little. "Amy did it".

"So", Fat Amy announced, stepping away from the car to look at her fellow passengers. "We seem to have come to a standstill. Not only did we kill an innocent animal-"

"There is no we about this-"

"But it seems that Carla now only has three working wheels. Jesse, how many do you think it would be advisable for Carla to have?"

Benji frowned. "You've got to me freaking kidding me".

"Now, I'm not entirely qualified to change a tire, but I'll give it my best shot. I've changed my granddad's tractor tire in Tasmania and really, how different can it be?"

"We hit a big ass rabbit", Stacie said, apparently unable to move on from that fact. "Amy, you hit a rabbit! A big ass rabbit!"

"In Carla's defence", Fat Amy said weakly. "She couldn't pull of Thelma and Louise".

It was situations like that that either laughing or crying was the answer. And because if the four of them started to cry at that moment, they'd never stop, they laughed. They laughed for a straight ten minutes, before calling the emergency road services (despite Fat Amy insisting that she probably could change the tire) and laughing some more. And then, at Stacie's request, they held a small service for the deceased rabbit while waiting for the emergency services.

"This is gonna be one of our more memorable summers", Fat Amy said, as they stood around the flattened animal. "This is just like when Huggsy died, right Stace?"

"Too soon, Amy. Too soon".

(Huggsy, Stacie's beloved pet hamster, had died exactly eight days into the summer vacation before fifth grade. And they had spent the entire morning digging a hole in Stacie's backyard- big enough to fit the five of them comfortably- for the memorial service that Fat Amy initiated.)

"so, in short", Benji said, as the four of them sat cross legged on the side of the road beside their three wheeled minivan. "We're officially three days into our last summer vacation. We've travelled literally over a thousand miles to look for our friend who may or may not be in California. We've swapped drivers eight times. We've killed one rabbit and now our vehicle only has three wheels. And we've still got over eight hundred miles to go".

"And to think, we wanted to sit around the pool all summer", Jesse said, almost weakly.

(They were still laughing when roadside assistance arrived.)


	11. Chapter 11

They were two hours behind schedule, as Benji reminded them when they got back into the minivan.

(They'd said no delays, but they'd had more delays than they could have even thought of.)

"So maybe we'll get to LA on the fourth day of summer", Jesse said, brushing off his friend's dramatics. "Stacie, take the wheel please".

And Stacie climbed into the front seat, stretching her seatbelt across her chest. "Driver is totally in charge of the music and we are so singing a little bit of Lana Del Rey".

'Summertime Sadness' was their anthem, as they pulled back onto the highway, to take them that bit closer to their friend.

* * *

For the first time since they left Baton Rouge, they were quiet. Seat belted into their respective seats, Fat Amy behind the wheel, the only sound they could hear was Carla's wheel ploughing through mile after mile of asphalt.

"Jesse", Stacie complained, lying down in the backseat of the car with her feet on the window.

"How much longer?" Fat Amy interrupted.

"Nope, I was talking", Stacie cut her off. "Have you called Chloe yet? Because we cannot just rock up on her doorstep and be like 'house four people for an undetermined period of time while we SCOUR THE CITY for a person who may or may not be here'".

"We are not going through this again", Jesse almost growled.

At that point in the trip, tensions were high. They were tired. They were grumpy. They all wanted a good night sleep (in which they weren't double seat belted into the back of a moving minivan). They wanted something proper to eat, with two fruits and three vegetables ('potato chips are not vegetables and dried apple rings aren't really apples'), and they were sick of the minivan.

They knew that it was just a moment, and that they'd get through it. But their bump in the road earlier had thrown a spanner into the works, and they were running a lot more behind schedule than they thought.

"Call Chloe", Benji said tiredly, rubbing his eyes. "We need to stop, my legs have cramped up".

"I'll stop when I find time to stop".

Jesse, rubbing his temples, scrolled through the contacts on his phone before finding Chloe's number. Holding it to his ear, he stretched out his legs as far as he could in the way back of the minivan, waiting impatiently for her to answer.

"Jesse!" Chloe Beale said in surprise. "Hey buddy!"

"Hey Chlo". Jesse found himself smiling, despite the situation they were in. "so, we're on our way to LA-"

"What?" the redhead squawked.

"Yeah, spur of the moment road trip, long story. Anyway, we were wondering if it was possible for us to maybe crash on your floor for a night? Or could you book us a hotel room and I'll fix you up with the money when we get there? It'll be like a night, maximum".

"Whoa, Jess, slow down", Chloe said calmly. "First of all, who's 'we'? And second of all, why are you on your way to LA? Have you stopped at all? More importantly, does your mother know where you are? And you're coming to LA for a NIGHT? Are you insane?"

('Yes' was the definite answer to her last question. Yes, he most certainly was.)

"She knows we're somewhere between Baton Rouge and LA, so yes. I told you, spur of the moment road trip. And 'we' is me, Benji, Stacie and Fat Amy".

"I can picture the girls… the Australian and the slut. Benji with the cape, right?"

"Yeah, that Benji".

"Jesse, I'm not letting you stay in a hotel. Stay here- there's not a lot of room, there are two bedrooms and they're Aubrey's and mine, but our couch folds out. And there's a futon in our office. You can crash on our floor, even. Our apartment is tiny, but its home. Stay with us. As long as you need".

"Chloe, you're a lifesaver. I don't know how long we'll be in LA…" his voice trailed off, unsure how to end that sentence. "Can you text me your address?"

"Of course- stay as long as you need. Is everything alright?"

Chloe had a way of knowing when something was wrong. She always had, and Jesse didn't know how she did it.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Chlo. I'll text you when we get into LA, alright?"

"Alright. Drive safe, buddy".

"Thanks Chlo".

* * *

"I Spy with my little eye", Benji said, breaking the silence in the van, "Something we're all feeling".

Metaphysical I Spy was a game they had invented on a late night trip home from the beach, Beca reigning supreme.

"Extraordinary fatigue", Jesse guessed.

"That feeling when you have too much caffeine and your whole body is like vibrating", Stacie tried, her hand tapping against the seat like it had been doing for the last hour and a half. "I literally cannot stop that".

"You're probably having a heart attack", Fat Amy said compassionately.

"Although we're all feeling that", Benji said, "The correct answer is I believe we'll all feel a lot better and a lot more at ease after an aca pella rendition of Coldplay's 'Vida La Vida'".

They laughed, but they belted out the Coldplay classic nonetheless, any quarrels they had had earlier in the day melting away. And when they were finished, Jesse spoke up.

"I spy with my little eye a great story".

There was silence for a moment, and then Benji spoke.

"Its this, isn't it?"

Jesse nodded.

"Yeah", Fat Amy agreed. "As long as we don't die, this is gonna be one hell of a story".

And then Stacie leant over to change the radio station to find a rock station with ballads they could all sing along to, and their game was abandoned.


End file.
